Quick-throw valve



June 19, 192s. '1,6745250 Y|; E. KEECH ET AL QUox THROW VALVE f/yf/vros: am@ 5. nasse/7'. 62 EN if. wie

4 TTOFA/F- Patented June i9, 19228.` i i A. y i vUNITE@ STATS, lrtt-'IENT.p4 I

LANA E. KEECH ANL ALLEN P. ALerER, or Los ANGELES. CALIFORNIA, AssieNonsmo l'vvrLLAivr B. BASTIAN, QE Los ANGELES, cALrEoRNIA.

QUICK-THRO`W VALVE.

Y Application mee May 2, 19,27. serial No. 183,269. Our invention yrelates to valves such as is in whichl the thermostat is used is allowedto shown in U. S. Patent No. 1,621,866, issued cool downto atmospheric temperature, the to William B. Bastian on March 22, 1927, thermostat tends to place an excessive presfor a quick-throw valve. y u f sure upon the valve mechanism. 5 'lt isa broad object of our invention to .is a'fu1ther object of my invention to 60 provide an improved quick-throw valve. provide a" quick-throw valve which is y ln thevalve shown in said patent, a valve adapted to yieldably resist the excessive ball ismoved on a vertical axis to and from pressure applied by the, thermostatsov that a valve seat by a garter spring stretched the valve mechanism will be protected from io around the ball. A lever is 'forked at one Said pressure. y

end to surround the ball and straddle the Further objects and advantages will be garter spring. rlhis lever is adjustably ulmade manifest hereinafter. crumedat' its opposite end, and a thermoln'the' drawings which illustrate a prestatic element bears against the lever near ferred embodiment of our invention, Fig. `1 i5 the ulcrum to' swing the lever and actuate is a diagrammatic viewillustrating the utl- 70 i the valve ball. The thermostatic element ity of the quick-throw valve of our invenpreferable for this purpose is ofvconsidertIO-In e able length and, unlessv the mechanism is Fig. Zips a vertical sectional Vview taken complicated with a motion vdirection chang- On the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. y z y 20. ing" device, necessarily extends parallel to Fig: 3 1S a vertical Sectional view taken the axis on which the valve ball moves." .011' Jill@ line 3-3 Of Fig. 2.

ln the valve shownin said patent7 the lFlgfl is a fragmentary view similar to valve ball is not adapted to operate propa PONL-1011.015 Fig. 3 for the illustration of erly onV any but a vertical axis. rlhis rethe* OpeltlOIl of the invention. f

`25 quires that the thermostat also be disposed Fig- 5 iS 21 llOllZOntdl Sectional view taken S0 vertically and precludes the use of such 0n lillelDGv- 0f Fg- 2f'. e

valve'where it is'essentiall that the thermo- Fig- 6 iS an enlarged fragmentary view Stat be placed hofzomauy, similar to a portion of Fig. 2, illustrating 'lt is` therefore another objectof our in 1 mOClleCl fOHIl O garter'spring otour y 30 vention to provide'a quick-throw valve vin HWQHOTL,

which la valve ball is ladapted to operate on Fg- 7 is a fragmentary View .Of a pOltOh a horizontal LXR of the valve actuating means,v v It isa still further object ot our invention "Reefmg SPGCCHllY t0 the "drawings, to provide a quckmow Valve which is the numeral 1.0 'indicates' the quick-throw adapted to operate efficiently in any desired Valvf @if 0111 UWQHOD- ThS VvlV@ llclS 2L 90 position I t housing shell ll which includes a. bon 12 ln the valve above described, itisnecesh'vllf l btw-k Wall 13, Sid@ 'Walls 14- lfl' 15 sary that the lever be guided so as not to and L'OP and lJOttOm Walls 16 andv l1? rebear against the valve ball and prevent its Spectlvlyf 'The ,Side of the box 12 OPPOS@ proper functioning. Means previously prothe back Wan 13 is Open and* i5 adapted t@ 95. vided for this purpose has proven unsatis- 13e-Closed by a Cove? 18 which is hdd against fcmfy du@ to its making a. Sliding Contact the edges of the side walls 1d and l5 and top with the lever sofas to occasionally bind and and bottm Walls 16 fl-ml 17 bY.19-ChD prevent the Opel-tien of the 1Qve`r-` f p screws20 so as to form a tight chamber 2l A further Object. Cf @u1-invention is to in thev shell ll. A short tubular neck 2,2 ex- 100 provide a (prick-throw valve having a lever tends horizontallyv from the upper" portion guide which will not interfere with the *0f th@ Wall 15, lllS DGCl lli'lltlg in the proper funetion of Said lever, internally'and externally threaded nipple 23'. In many uses 0f a, quiek-thr0w valve with 'Tlieadedly received into the internal 50 a thermostat,l the thermostat is set 'to operthreads ot the nipple 23 is a copper tube 2li 105 ate the valve between a 'rangeot temperaof a thermostatic element 25. The copper tures well above the temperature of the tube 21l`extends a considerable dista-nce outatmosphere. The thermostat usually apward from the nipple 23 and is provided plies a pressure tothe valve as the temperawith a plug 26 at its outer end. AA steel rod 5 5 ture decreases. rlhus when the apparatus 27 is disposedin the copper tube 2d, one end 110 28'of the rod being secured to the plug 26 and the other end 29 being pointed and extending a. slight distance into the housing chamber 21;` n

A stuiiing box 35 isprovided in the wall 14, the axis of the stuiiing box 35 being disposed a slight distance above that of the neck 22. A threaded shaft 36 having a hand wheel 37 is threadedly received in a threaded opening 38 in thewall 14 about which the stuling box 35 is formed. lThe shaft 36 has a polished radial end face 40, from the center of which projects a centering pin41. l

An internally threaded nipple 42 is provided in the wall 17 so as to commui'iicate with the chamber 21. The wall 14 has a reinforced portion 43 at its lower end which is provided with a threaded .opening 44. y

A valve vseat nipple 45 has threaded end portions 46 and 47, the portion 46 being threadedlyreceived in the hole 44. An annular shoulder 48. is formed between the threaded portions 46 and 47 of the nipple 45,`

the shoulder 48 bearing against the thick! ened. wall-portion 43 so as to form a tight 'sealy therewith. A short tube 50 extends into the chamber 21 from the4 nipple 45, the tube 50 having a valve seat51 formed at its inner end. The vaxis of the nipple 45 is preferably disposed substantially parallel with `the axis of the thermostat 25, as will become apparent later.

A lever extends substantially through the length of the chamber 21, the upper end 5 of the lever 55 beingV provided with a pocket 56 which lits over the pin 41 of the rshaft 36, a knife 'edge provided on the lever 55 then coming into contact withthe radial end surface 40 of the-shaft 36. vWhenthe lever 55 is thus disposed, the pointed end l29 of the thermostat rod 27 projects into depression 58. formed in an-opposite face ofthe lever 55 from that `in which the recess 56 is formed.v The face 40 of the shaft 36 forms a. fulcrum for the lever 55 when the lever is swung in the direction of the arrow 60 about its fulcrum. An opening 61 provided in a head 62 formed at the opposite y end of the lever is adapted rto extend around the tube 50. kThehead 62 has a slot 63 which bifurcates the head and is disposed at right angles to the axis of the opening 61.

Rollers 65 are disposed laterally on opposite sides of the opening 61 and inI the slot 63. The rollers 65 are journalled upon pins 66, which lare driven through suitable line holes in portions 67 of the lever head 62 which are disposed on opposite sides of the slot 63.

A valve member' in the form of a ball 68 is of such diameter' as to permit it to freely pass through the opening 6l, and as the lever 55 swings about its fulcrum, the ,ball 68 is retained in the opening 61 in a position approximately opposite the valve seat 51. It

slot 63 so as to extend around the rollers 65 vand the ball'68, the garter springbeing under such tension as to exert ayieldable pressure against the ball 68 which snaps'or throws the ball quicklyy toward or away vfrom the valve seat 51 when the lever 55 swings about its fulcrum as to force the garter spring over, dead center position relative to the ball. H

A leaf spring 75 has an end thereof rigidly secur'edpby rivets 76 to the upper end of the lever The spring 75 extends downward and outward from thelever 55 toward the wall 14 so that a bend A77 inthe spring 75 slidingly engages the inner surface of the wall 14. A foot 78 f of increased width is formed upon the lower end of the spring 75 below the bend 77, the foot 7 8 being forked so that opposite legs 80ethereofY extend bey yond and engage opposite sides of the tube 50 .so as to maintain the motion of the lever 55 about its fulcrum inthe plane of the axis of the valve seat nipple 45. The extreme ends of the legs-8O are curved away from the lever 55, as shown.

In Fig. 1 the valve 10 of our invention is shown incorporated with an. ovenv for the purpose of controlling the temperature of the oven. The oven 85 has anoven box 86 maintained in an outer shell 87 and a gasL burner 88 provided beneath the'box 86 within the shell 87. The nipple 23 ofthe neck 22 is screwed into reinforced opening 89 of the shell 87 so that the thermostat 25 extends horizontally into the oven 85. vA gas supply pipe 90 has a control valve 91, the end of the supply pipe 90 being threadedly received into the nipple 42. Betweenthe valve 91 and the nipple 42 a pilot tuber 95,is. connected to the pipe 90,- the pilot ,pipe v95 leading to a suitable position over the burner ,88; A fuel. pipe 96 connects to the nipple 47' and leads to the burner 88. i Y

A modiiied form of garter spring 100 is shown in Fig. 6 as comprising a plurality of spring` segments 1,01.v The number of these segments should preferably be small, there being three of these segments shown in the form illustrated. The garter spring 100 is mounted ina head 102 of a lever 103 which is identical with thehead62 of the lever 55. The spring segments 101 are dis posed in the slot 63 of the head 102 in a symmetrical relation with the axis of the opening 61 formed therein. Opposite ends of the spring segments 101 are secured to pins 105 which extend through portions of the lever head 102 in a similiar mannerto the pins 66 in the preferred embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5. The spring segments 101 act against the ball 68 in almost identically the same manner as the garter spring v weaker spring.

The operation of our invention is follows:

lVhen the thermostat 25is at atmosphericv temperature, the lever arm is in the poe sition shown in Fig. llso that the valve 1.0 is open.` Therefore when the valve 91 is open, gas may flow from the pipe 90' through' the valve 10 and the fuel pipe 96 into the burner 88. This condition exists when the oven 85 is tirstlighted, a match being applied to the bur-ner 88 when the valve 91 isy open. lVhen the burner 88 has once been lighted, gas issuing from the pilot pipe 95 maintains a constant pilot flame until the valve 91 is again closed. The temperature of the oven 85, however, is maintained within a lixed temperature arranged by the operation of the valve 10,` the gas supply valve 91 remaining open until it is desired that the oven no longer be heated.

When the burner` 88 has been lighted as above described and the oven 85 ybecomes heated tothe maximum of a desired rang of temperature, the thermostat 25 operates to draw the rod 27 outward so as to release the pressure of the end 29 thereof-against the lever 55; lVhen the lever 55 isy thus released, the spring 75 forces this lever from 'the position in which it is shown in 4Fig. 4

to the position in which it isvshown in Fig; 3.y

The garter spring 70 is carried with the lever 55to the opposite side of' the ball- 68 so as to quickly throw the ballf68 from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4; to the position in which it is shown in Fig.`3.

The ball 68 thus comes into contact w-iththe seat 51 and closes the valve 10. f

Thesupply of gas to the burner88 through the supply pipe 96k is thus stopped and the burner 88 is extinguished. As before described, however, the pilot light formed by issuing gas from the pilot pipe 95 continues burning. As the voven cools down from the maximumto the minimum of'a ,desiredl range of temperature, the rod 27 is forced inward movingthe lever 55 against the pressure of the spring 75 froml its positionr shown inv Fig. 3 to the position in which itis shown in Fig. 4; The ball 6,8 is thus removed or thrown from the seat 51 with a quick motion when a minimum temperature has been reached in the oven 85. Thevalve 10 being opened, gas in supplied to the burner 88, this gas being lighted by the pilot light as it isues from the burner, heat-ing the oven 85 to maintain this above the minimum of the desired range of temperature.

The number 0f degrees of temperature y between maximum and minimum is determined. by the relative length' of thel arnsjoffr the lever 55, that is, the relation ofthe dis-.l tance between the pin 29 and the pin 41 tok the distance between the pin Q9 and the ball 68,. This relation. may be made. adjustable but, in the embodiment illustrated, it is a fixed relation. The temperature which is desired to be made the minimum temperature is determined by the positioning` of the fulcrum ofthe lever-55 by the screwing in or out of thel threaded shaft 85. purpose of'A indicating to; the operator of the oven 85 just what the minimum vtemperature will be for a given setting of thev shaft'. indicia 97 are providedupon the hand wheel 87 which, when registeringfwithl ay mark on the valve shell 11, willv indicate a given minimum temperature at' which thel oven: will be maintained. n v

Vlhen the valve 91 is turned off' so as to permit the oven 85 to coolV to. atmospheric temperature, thev rod X1'- ofl the 'thermostat is projected inward a sufficient distance to. exert av considerable pressure against the lever 55., lf the lever 55 had a slidestop,

this pressure would tend to` either rupture they thermostat'25 vor" the lever '55. In the presentl invention, however, the foot 7 8 of the.-

spring 75v comesinto Contact with the head 620iL the lever 55 when the lever is forced a given distance in the directionof' thearrowl soas toy cushion a fur-ther movement; of' the lever inthis directiomn c Attention is called to the facttliatfeven. though the valve 10l is disposed sothat the lever 55 extends vertically, the 'weight of the balli G8 will operate uponthe proper' path which extends substantially along the axis of the` valve seat ltube 50. Thus the valve 1i() will operatel successfully no matter sie in what position it may be necessary that Y it be placed. The main advantage of the` mounting of the garter spring-I Z0v about the rollers is that if any portion' of the spring should stretch more than the rest kof the spring, this stretchv would be communicated about'the rollers 65 to the rest of the spring so that the spring would: still exert i an.

equalV pressure upon` opposite4 sides of the ball'.68 so as to continue to actuate the ball 68 along the path necessary for it to` make a perfect contact with they valve yseat 51. The garterspring 70 is definitely positioned upon the leverl 55 by its being stretched aroundthe rollers 65'. Thus, if 4the lever 55. is in a vertical or other non-horizontal posi.- tion, the ball 68 tends to fall out of the path over which it must move in order to properly seat. For this to happen, however, would require the garter spring to be distorted more in one direction from this path than in another. Owing to the tension placed upon the garter spring 7 0, this unsymmetrical distortion is never possible to more than llO viso

from a transverse plane passing there through; yieldable means adapted to be moved over a. given path by said actuating member toact upon said converging surfaces to throw said valve member along said path; and means for restraining movement of said yieldablemeans in a direction transverse relative lto said path to cause said yieldable means to support a portion ofthe weight of said valve member.

2. In a quick-throw valve, the combination of: an actuating member; a valve member, outer surfaces of which converge; yieldable means movable by said actuating member to act upon said converging surfaces to throw said valvemember along a given path; and means for holding said yieldable means relative tofsaidl actuating member so as to center .said valve member relative .to said path.-V

3. In a quick-throwvalve, the combination of: an actuating member; a ball; yieldable means movable by said actuating member te act upon said ball to throw said `ball along a given path; and means for holding said yieldable means relative to said actuating member so as to center said ball relative to said path. y

4. Ina quick-throw valve; the combination of: an actuating member; a valve member, outer surfaces of which converge; a garter springmovable by said vactuating member to act upon saidy converging surfaces to throw.

said valve member along a given path; and

means-for holding said garter springv rela-v tive to said actuatingy member so as to center said valvemember relative to said path.

5. In a quick-throw valve; the combination of: an actuating member; a ball; a garter spring movable by said actuating member to.

act'upon said ball totlnow said ball along a given path; and vmeans for holding said garter spring relative to said actuating member so as to center said ball relative to said path.

6. In a quick-throw valve, the combination of: an actuating member; a valve inem-- ber, outer surfaces of which converge; a resilient member adapted to be movedby said actuating memberto act upon said converging surfaces to throw said valve ineinber along a given path; said actuating meniber engaging said resilient member to move it along said path and to restrict its eXpan-V fber, outer surfaces rof whichconverge; a

garter spring adapted to be .moved by said actuating member to act upon` said converging surfaces to throw said valve nicnibcr along a given path; said actuating member engaging said garter spring to move it along said path and to restrict expansion to a plane transverserelative tosaid path; and

means associated with said actuating ineinbei` to restrain said garter spring so as te substantially center said valve member rela.- tlve to said path.

8. In ay quick-throw valve; the combination of: an actuating member; a valve meinber; outer surfaces of which converge; a

resilient member adapted to be moved by said actuatingineinber to act upon-said con-v verging surfaces to throw said valve member along a given path, said actuating member engaging said resilient member to move it along said path and to restrict itsexpansion to aplane transverse relative to said path; and rollers associated with said actuating member to restrain said resilient member so as to substantially eenterfsaidv valve member relative to said path.

9. In a'qiiiclr-tlii"ow valve; the combina-` tion of: an actuating member; a valve member, outer surfaces of which converge; a garter spring adapted to be moved by said actuating member to act upon said converging surfaces to throw said valve member along a given path, said actuating-member engaging said ygarter' spring tomove it along said'path and to restrict its expansion 

